John Constable, R.A. (East Bergholt 1776-1837 Hampstead)
Lot 131

John Constable, R.A. (East Bergholt 1776-1837 Hampstead)

Study of plants and rocks; and A drawing of a plough (recto) and Sketch of a dog's head (verso)

Closed3 July 2012

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GBP 3,500

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John Constable, R.A. (East Bergholt 1776-1837 Hampstead)
Study of plants and rocks; and A drawing of a plough (recto) and Sketch of a dog's head (verso)
the second inscribed 'Surface plough' (upper left) and with inscription 'Constable RA fecit' (upper right)
pencil, one on buff paper
6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm.); and 8 1/8 x 7 7/8 in. (20.6 x 20 cm.) (2)

Specialist note

Constable worked relatively infrequently on coloured papers, but examples are found of blues, greys, buffs, sometimes called drabs, and even purple papers amongst his drawings and oil studies on paper. This very opaque sheet is typical of some of the strong wrapping papers that were manufactured in the early 19th Century.

There is a sheet of oil on paper studies of two ploughs dated '2d Novr. 1814' at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, that was given to the Museum by the artist's daughter, Isabel, in 1888 (Reynolds, op.cit., no. 14.44, pl. 1187). The studies were used for the ploughs see in The Cornfield (Reynolds, op.cit., no. 26.1) and Stoke-by-Nayland (Reynolds, op.cit., no. 36.19).